HMS Lion

HMS Lion (1847)

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Name	Lion (1847)	Explanation
Type	Second rate	Type	Two-decker
Launched (Sail)	29 July 1847	Converted to screw	17 May 1859
Hull	Wooden	Length	190 feet
Propulsion	Sail	Men	750
Builders measure	2580 tons	Builders measure (as screw)	2580 tons
Displacement		Displacement (as screw)	3482 tons
Guns	80	Guns (as screw)	80
Fate	1905	Last in commission	1869
Class		Class (as screw)	Majestic
Ships book	ADM 135/283
Snippets concerning career prior to conversion
Date	Event
29 July 1847	Launched as 2nd rate sailing ship at Pembroke Dockyard.
Career as unarmoured wooden screw vessel
Date	Event
17 May 1859	Completed as screw at Devonport Dockyard.
1 July 1864 - 7 September 1865	Commanded (from commissioning) by Captain Arthur Farquhar, Coast Guard, Greenock
8 September 1865 - 8 September 1868	Commanded (until paying off at Portsmouth) by Captain John Montagu Hayes, Coast Guard, Greenock, then (July 1867) Coast Guard squadron, then (October 1867) Londonderry before returning to Greenock (replaced by Black Prince)
1 October 1868 - 1 November 1869	Commanded (from commissioning until paying off) by Captain Gerard John Napier, receiving ship, Devonport
1871	Training ship, Devonport (together with Implacable, training ship since 1842).
(1890)	Tenders: Liberty and Sealark
1905	Replaced by Shotley Barracks.
11 July 1905	Sold at Portsmouth for breaking up
*Extracts from the Times* newspaper**
Date	Extract
We 18 August 1858	Sir John Pakington and the other Lords of the Admiralty left the Diadem in Hamoaze at 10 o'clock on Monday morning, and proceeded to the office of the Admiral-Superintendent, Sir Thomas Pasley, in Devonport Dockyard. From 11 to half-past 1 was occupied in mustering the artisans, who were relieved from duty for the remainder of the day. The gunboat Redwing was in attendance to convey their Lordships to the breakwater in Plymouth Sound, but in consequence of the unsettled state of the weather their inspection on Monday was confined entirely to the dockyard. In building slip No. 1 is the screw steam vessel Pantaloon, 10, in frame. No. 2 is vacant. In No. 3 is the Narcissus, 50-gun screw. She was designed for a sailing vessel, and was nearly built in slip No. 2, when it was determined to lengthen and convert her into a steamer. She was therefore, about 12 months since, taken down in pieces, and rebuilt in the present slip, which is larger. In No. 4 is the Java, 20, screw [name unknown; presumed cancelled], just begun framing. In No. 5 slip is the Donegal, 101, screw, seven-eighths built. She will be launched towards the close of September. In dock No. 1 is the Cumberland, 70 guns, docked on the 12th inst., having been ashore, and carried off her false keel in South America. In No. 2 dock is the Liberian schooner Lark, 2, which has been eight years on service on the coast of Africa for survey. As her repairs will cost over 2,000£., and she will then be but an old ship, it is supposed that the Admiralty rather than incur that expense will present the Liberian Government with another vessel. In No. 3 is the sixth-rate sailing ship Creole, 26, forwarding for commission. No. 4 contains the Gannet, 11, screw, preparing for the steam reserve; and No. 5 the second-rate sailing ship Lion, 80, altering to a screw. In the basin is the Topaz, 50, screw, preparing for the steam reserve. Alongside the dockyard are the Aboukir, 90, screw, and the St. Jean d'Acre, 101, screw, both preparing for the steam reserve. The latter will replace the Orion. The Lords of the Admiralty dined in tha evening with Admiral Superintendent Sir John [should be: Thomas] Pasley, after which they patronized a ball at St. George's-hall, Stonehouse, in support of the funds of the Naval and Military Orphan Asylum at Stoke. The official dinner will be given at Bates's Royal Hotel, Plymouth, this (Wednesday) evening, and the levee held in Devonport dockyard to-morrow morning.

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